These factors may be different than how a volunteer has performed similar tasks at other organizations. Every volunteer will do the best they can with the knowledge they have. It’s your job to educate them on your processes and methodologies.
We’re so passionate about this because we’ve found over the years that most of the miscommunication experienced inside non-profit organizations is due to unclear expectations and lack of technical training.
It’s not insulting to take a 10 or 15 year veteran in a field through a training course. They may have a lot of domain knowledge about a specific topic but they don’t yet know the expectations and requirements for implementing that knowledge into your organization.
Create a technical training guide for EVERY role inside your organization.
Volunteers should expect to undergo at least a week of training BEFORE they begin working independently on tasks that impact your organization. The three main areas of training are orientation, communication and technical roles and responsibilities.
Teach Volunteers How to Be Successful
If you want people to function a very specific way inside your organization, we recommend developing a Volunteer Technical Training Plan and training on it immediately.